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The Cotswold Venturer - June 13th.

Discussion in 'What's Going On' started by aperture, May 29, 2015.

  1. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

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    Whatever the cause of movement turns out to be I hope no one was injured.
     
  2. MTU16V4000R41

    MTU16V4000R41 New Member

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    Reading Station has lots of nice new Spingly Spangly HD CCTV stuck on all over it so no doubt what actually happened will soon be established. As I understand it no one was actually injured.
     
  3. hatherton hall

    hatherton hall Well-Known Member

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    We hope no one was injured of course. But I guess, as with Wotton Bassett, it may be viewed by those in authority as "what might have been". Our thoughts again are with the driver as one can only image what he is going through just now.
     
  4. Steve Franklin

    Steve Franklin New Member

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    I was there tonight, on platform 15, so the wrong side to see what happened on platform 13. It wasn't clear to us on 15 what happened at the time but about three minutes after arrival, the train slowly started and moved about four feet before stopping again. The attached photo shows the train at the moment of moving and as can be clearly seen, the green signal aspect is clearly visible. Everybody on that side of the cab looks to be focused on the task in hand, which doesn't seem unreasonable.

    It only became apparent what had happened some time later, when I spoke to some people who had been on platform 13. I did speak to the duty manager but as you can imagine. she wasn't saying anything substantive to a complete stranger.
     

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  5. david1984

    david1984 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Lets wait for more facts first, remember 47500 at Ordsall ?, people coulden't wait to stick the knife in, then it came out it was NR and their dodgy track to blame, it is possible that the RA was given, then someone decided to take it upon themselves to release the secondary door lock, if so it would be difficult to blame the crew.

    Hopefully the proper response will be forthcoming from WCRC, as treating incidents with the seriousness they deserve gets a less harsh view from NR.
     
  6. MTU16V4000R41

    MTU16V4000R41 New Member

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    If you are saying that this picture was taken at the exact time the train started to move then this is quite interesting as the RA indicator (below the signal head) is not lit.

    I understand WCRC also use back to back radio for train despatch purposes however the normal method of working at Reading station is to use the RA indicators for trains not fitted with built in Driver - Guard coms...

    I've saved that picture file by the way.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2015
  7. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    Henry
    Musical interludes - very nice - but add little to something that is really quite serious, imo.
     
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  8. RalphW

    RalphW Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Administrator Friend

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    View from a passenger, ex WNXX

    I was on that train, and I think all the doors were closed when the train slowly moved forward a yard or so and then stopped smoothly (no sudden braking). Passengers detraining had all left the train by then, and the doors closed. We were overdue to depart, so it was no surprise that the train moved off.

    It had a green signal, but apparently the guard disagreed with the driver's decision to leave, and stopped the train. I don't know what step hadn't been taken, but I'm assuming WCR staff are bending over backwards to follow all the rules to the letter now, and Reading isn't a station where errors would be unobserved.

    I still don't know what the problem was. Perhaps it was something like a lack of confirmation that all doors were locked? I don't think anything dangerous happened, and it certainly wasn't a SPAD, but WCR is obviously trying to do everything by the book now, and is presumably being carefully observed, specially at major stations like Reading.

    We then sat there for over half an hour, with a lot of faffing around with many orange vests and BTP in attendance. No-one seemed to be able to agree whether we could move off or not, but pax were then offered the option of crossing the platform to board a 165 (2x2 car) fGW Paddington stopper (shown as being for Ealing Broadway, of course). We were advised that the steam train might be delayed for some time, so I think most pax moved across -- I certainly did. I suspected it would be cancelled, if only because the loco would be running low on water by then, and as we now know, it was.

    Until then, it had been a smooth, punctual trip, with the only delays due to late running fGW trains in the single track sections of the Cotswold line.
     
  9. henrywinskill

    henrywinskill Well-Known Member

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    I was sitting on the fence on this one the awaiting of reaction from both sides.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2015
  10. green five

    green five Resident of Nat Pres

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    Gave this trip a miss in the end as other things cropped up but I did follow it's progress when I could. What a very sad end to the day for all concerned. I hope this incident and the events with the test run of 60009 don't have a further detrimental effect on the future of ML steam operations. With Network Rail also under investigation by the ORR they will be under pressure too.
     
  11. Fred Kerr

    Fred Kerr Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    There has been a video posted of the event and the immediate aftermath but in view of the delicacy of the situation I have elected not to post a link to avoid a trial by video - suffice to say that it was taken from the platform adjacent to the cab and shows the environment at the time of the incident; it is a 2 minute sequence that starts with the movement of the train.
     
  12. henrywinskill

    henrywinskill Well-Known Member

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    Seen it Fred and as you say best to keep it away from here
     
  13. buseng

    buseng Part of the furniture

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    Pretty sure it was already linked to on here but seems to have disappeared. I caught it before it went. It's also on other forums.
     
  14. henrywinskill

    henrywinskill Well-Known Member

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    Yes I thought I saw it here earlier
     
  15. MTU16V4000R41

    MTU16V4000R41 New Member

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    Indeed it is.
     
  16. RalphW

    RalphW Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Administrator Friend

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    It was removed for the reasons very well put by Fred Kerr above, post 71.
     
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  17. aperture

    aperture Member

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    I come from a large Great Western Swindon family,travelling behind Castles,Halls,Saints & Manors during the war years and post war between Paddington,Reading,Swindon,Didcot and Oxford..semi-fast and stoppers..smokers,housewives and kitbags belonging to the forces standing in corridors,package knee deep in luggage vans that even the guard could hardly move..but the GWR worked,it never moaned it just got on with life..now then,I had friends travelling on this Train to Worcester,and they had a wonderful day out,first class food,excellent service..
    Thank goodness we say they were only going to Reading...NOW my moan and the poor souls on board are NOT youngsters anymore-and to say 'jump aboard' you have 3 minutes to do this is sheer madness,these are not modern carriages where the platform is the same level as the carriage.it is a job to climb up and down...even an army personal with a kitbag would struggle in 3 minutes to board a train with this design within this time.Even my friends were helped from the train at Reading (especially after a nice meal).
    I suggest NR or whoever plans these times go back to the drawing board and re-work the timings-yes,I know,we are holding up the express following=I will not except that as an excuse.The network is full of excuses-if world war 3 started tomorrow H&S would go straight out of the window because we wouldn't have time to fill out form b,section 9 because a land mine has fallen on the line a mile ahead...Get your timing right and remember most of these passengers that go on these trips are pensioners who don't disembark at a given time.In fact some didn't even know the rule was 3 minutes that you take your life in your hands.
    Did I join the family tradition by going to the railway to work,no I became a journalist in Fleet Street.
     
  18. rule55

    rule55 Member

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    Blimey!

    Sub-editors really earned their money in those days.

    ;-)
     
  19. David likes trains

    David likes trains Member

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    A short clip of the train passing Goring and Streatley. I did stop off at Maidenhead to visit the bridge after this as I was on my way East anyway, wondered why there were still plenty of photographers hanging around. Saw the 37 light engine heading to the rescue which just confirmed the cancellation already showing on RTT. Shame this trip ended this way, glad to hear no-one was hurt. We'll have to see what more comes of this...
     
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  20. Steve Sienkiewicz

    Steve Sienkiewicz Member

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    I've lost count of the number of trains I've been on over the years that have set off and then stopped a second or two later whilst still at the platform. If the explanation from the passenger (a few posts above) is correct, then I'm going to stick my neck out and ask what's the big deal? Obviously, everyone is very nervous and on edge following what has happened recently, which is understandable, but I hope a sense of perspective prevails on this occasion following what appears on face value to be a relatively minor incident.
     

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